Differential locking device



March 28, 1950 J. A. MISENER 2,501,956

DIFFERENTIAL LOCKING DEVICE Filed Nov. 25, 1947 3 She'ets-Sheet lENVEHTOR a... MISENEIL ATT'Y March 28, 1950 A. MlS ENER 2,501,956

DIFFERENTIAL LOCKING DEVICE Filed Nov. 25, 1947 s Sheets-Sheet 2 7,mvzmba' J.A. MGSENER saw-we March 28, 1950 J. A. MISENER DIFFERENTIALLOCKING DEVICE 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 Filed Nov. 25, 1947 a 7 69 as INVENTOR-J/A- MISENEK ATT'YS Patented Mar. 28, 1950 O FJFI CE DIEEERENHEIAL Locmnennvmn jJ'os'e ih A..MiseneniNiagarmFalls, Ontario, 7 CanadaApplicatimilNouenilmtZS, 1947, Serial No. 787,951

1 -.5'C1aims. This invention relates to av'lo'cking means for.ilifierential gears.

Formerly, various vdesigns o'f lockingdevices "have ibeen devised forlocking ,di'iferential gears to cause the two live axle sections torotate, as aunit; means being provided for operating the "lockingmechanism from a ,point' convenient to the idriversseat. All (off :suchprior locliingmec'ha'an isms, however, have reguiredehanges and a1-tera'tions'to bemade in'the .design of differential "hous'in'gs, gearmountings, and theilike, vresulting in such mechanisms experiencing'disfavor with :automobile "manufacturers "in particular. Also, devicesIformer'lyknown have the general char- :acteristics iofbeing undulycomplicated and ex- ;p'ens'iveito manu'ia'ctaire.

It is an object of "the present invention to ;pro\ i'de differentiallocking "means which may be mounted on mosttypes "ofautomdtive've'hicles 'after manufacture ofthe, lattenja'nd which par-'ti'cu larly adaptable ."for military vehicles and the "like "in servicein -areas where it is desirable to "have the two live "axle sectionsrotate as Ia unit sudhas in areas 'of heavyrainfallnr where otheradverse weather conditions occur, where "maxii-mum' traction isrequired.

Another object not the invention 'is'fto provide differential "lockingmeans-comprised of a minimum "of elements including essentially, alocking block', sleeve "housing, aun'odified design "of differentialpinion shaft, and means-for actuating the locking meansinto and out of"engagement with at least one differential transfer "gear.

A further object of the invention is to provide "difierential lockingmeans as lbe'fore *which "may he mounted in any differential'assemblywhere there isn'a reasonable clearance-"between the-piniongear-and Ethedifierential case "toaccommodate itlre s'leeve housing.

A 'still further ob' ject'of 471181 invention isto provide -adifferential lock ing device as described, whih"may be mounted by anyskilled mechanic on most types of'difieren'tial gear mechanisms "withoutmodifying the original -structure of the 'difieren'ti algear meehanism:an' by merely addingth'e elements of the invention thereto.

Gither robje'ets :of the invention"willbemev'ealed hy eaxrs'tudy :of'the following specification taken inidon j unction: with theaecompanying drawings.

tn the drawings ili'igure '1 is a perspectiveviewrof a locking blockraccordingxtormyinvention.

ffiligure :2 11s a miew .01 :a locking iblo'ck assembly which includesthe: difierential igEEITSiOI' arconventional rdifierential 5282;!mechanism aas wellras lthe Cl. "ii-Q1105) .2 differential ease and :thesleeve housing of'athe present invention.

.Figure 3 shows the corresponding elements :to Figure .2 @butmeveals'the zmodeeo'f use of [two looking blocks.

vJdigure 4 :is :aepartial view of the .sleeve zhousing used in Eigurefishowing the angular .slot -de- .signed for engagement with theactuating. rod.

:Figure .fisis-a rpartial viewer the sleeve mousing ifor.the==emb.odiment .shown in Figure i-Eigurefi is a uiew of a.comp1etelyconventional igcar mechanism with 'the device =of the,present invention :mounted therein.

.iFigune Jhis an external plan view of a. conventional differentialwith-the present device H1100!- ,porated therein showing nne :means "ofactuating lthelsame.

,Eigure a3 is fan lelevationof Figure 7.

diligurerQ .is (an elevation of alternative means of actuating the(locking rde-vice "of the present invention.

sEigure '10v isvea plan view of' the actuating means ofiEigure i9.

Fligure .11 zis awpartial sectional view EH-14 of Eigurem.

Figure 12vls a perspective:view of an alternative 'form ;of :lockinglblOlGk.

Referring more Specifically to the drawings, and particularly to Eigures:1 ;and..2,- the :locking block in of my invention :eomprises :a body:lil vhating an axial bore I [designed to :slidably re- .ceive "the-diiterential pinion shaft 252. The pearipheralzsunf-aces m3 :arecontoured for :clearance with the inner surfaces ..of dilierential :case14. .Inclineddogsxm extendingzirom :th'e inclined (surltaees .lfiwf bodyit are designed to engage rhe- :tween :the 'teeth A?! of differentialtransfer gear hi8. I ran'sier gears :l.8- and L9 teng-agewthe:difierrjentiahgears 10 so that whenvthe dogs -.of .locke :ingblookAengag'e the teeth. I"! :of {gear .48, gear t8 will lee/fixedagainst rotation on idifierential pinionesha'frt -l 2 andtherefore'differential igear :20 will cause the nomplete assemblydescribed to .irotate .with" it.

:ITiguretm shows ianwalternative form '"ofrlocking iblock .havtingiabody 7 iflafrperipheral :surfaces i311 and bore Ma sass before. ;In':-.this 03:58 :h'owever, ureeesses 15a are liar-med inthezinclinedssurfaces v 1.6a designed to :receiue teeth .11 rather than"110 z ngageilbetween thel-same, as the dog 15 func- :tions "in ithep-iormer rand :rem'ainder of this adetseription.

L'Engagement rand disengagement BOT dogs 45 with the teeth 1:!!!'of'gear 1.8 is determined my slidable movement on the a-diiierentialpinion shaft [2. In order to accomplish this function, I provideactuating rods 2| extending from the body l0, and through slots 22 inthe differential case l4 to be engaged by the angularly disposed slots23 in the movable sleeve housing 24, this detail being shown moreclearly in Figure 4. In the latter figure as sleeve housing 24 is movedaxially in the direction of arrow X, the actuating rods 21 will becaused to move in direction Y to cause disengagement of dogs 15 fromgear 18 in Figure 2.

In this last figure, the block A is shown disengaged and therefore thesleeve housing 24 would be caused to move axially away from the viewerto provide axial movement of the block A for engagement of the dogs lwith teeth 11 of gear l8.

A modification is shown in Figures 3 and 5 where two locking blocks Aand Al are employed, which have actuating rods 2la and Zlb as beforewhich engage angularly disposed travel slots 23a and 23b of the sleevehousing 24a. It will be apparent that the movement shown by the arrows Xand Y, Figure 5, will occur upon actuation of the sleeve housingdescribed.

It may be pointed out that it will be necessary to replace one part of aconventional differential gear mechanism and in order to show clearlywhat is required, Figure 6 is included. In this latter figure it will beobserved that the conventional differential pinion shaft (not shown)must be replaced with a difierential pinion shaft 25 which extendsoutside of the differential case The mechanism I have so far describedwhich is pertinent to my invention may be mounted on an alreadymanufactured differential gear mechanism by a skilled mechanic by merelydis-,

a hole is drilled in the differential carrier to 26 to present lugs 27which are designed to engage in axial slots 28 in sleeve housing 29.This, however, will not require modification in the design of thedifferential case 26. In this figure as before, the differential pinionshaft supports the differential transfer gears 30 and 30a which engagethe differential gears 3| which are* mounted on the live axle shafts 32.The differential case 26 conventionally mounts the ring gear 33 which isdesigned to be engaged by pinion 34 of drive shaft 35. The latter iscarried by the differential carrier 36 which serves as a stationaryhousing for the unit, a conventional bell housing 3! serving as the wellknown rear closure for the assembly.

An important essential of the sleeve housing of my invention is thatsome means be provided for causing actuation of the same axially such asa collar 38 extending from the sleeve housing 29 and engageable by thefingers 39 of the bifurcated actuating lever 40.

The actuating lever is most clearly shown in Figures 8 and 9 and hasarms 4| and throat 42, the latter extending through an enlarged boredrilled in the differential carrier for ball swivel pivot connection 43in the bracket mounting means 44 of Figure 8. The actuating end of thethroat or lever arm 42 pivotally engages as at 45 in the arm 46 of bellcrank lever 41. The latter lever is pivotally connected as at 48 on thestandard 49 of bracket 44, the arm 59 (Figure 7) thereof connecting tothe control rod Si by suitable pin means 52. The control rod 5| extendsto suitable lever mechanism well shown in the prior art for causing itsactuation by an operator at the steering wheel of a vehicle. It will beapparent that movement of control rod 5| in direction Z will cause thefingers 39 (Figure 6) to move the sleeve housing 29 axially in'thedirection of arrowjR, to provide engagement of dogs 15' oflocki'n'gblock A in the teeth of transfer gear 30a.

allow free passage of the throat 42 and the bifurcated lever 40. Bracket44 is then fastened to the differential carrier by any suitable means'such as welding or bolting and the lever mechanism described may befitted to cause actuation of the sleeve housing in the desired manner.

Manyalternatives are of course, possible in the specific means employedfor actuation of the device of my invention and since I conceive mydevice as comprising a number of elements which may be attached to anautomobile, I also disclose another alternative or modification in theactuating means in Figures 9. 10 and 11.

In Figure 9, the bifurcated lever 46 is shown with the throat 42extending through an enlarged bore 52 in the differential carrier 53. Abracket 54 having bracket arms 55 provides a pivot 56 as a fulcrum forthe bifurcated lever 40. The free end 51 of throat 42 engages theangularly disposed travel slot 58 of the actuating bar 59. Bar 59 isslidable axially on shoulders 60 and bore 6| by its body 62 andextending shaft portion 63 in the arms 64 of bracket 54. The travel ofbar 59 is limited by the limiting slot 65 which receives the stud 66which is threaded for reception of the nut 61. Shaft 63 extends toreceive the threaded nut 68 and washer 69 to confine compression springmeans 10 between the washer and the surface H of bracket arm 64. Controlrod 12 connects pivotally by means of bifurcated block 73 and pin '14 tothe extended portion 15 of the actuating bar 59. The position of theelements shown corresponds to the disengaged position of the lockingblock with the differential transfer gears formerly described. It

is desirable that the slot 58 of the actuating bar 59 have rounded innercontours 58a as shown in Figure 11. As before, the bracket 54 may befastened to the differential carrier by any suitable means, such aswelding or bolting.

I have described my invention in such a manner that the attainment ofits objects will be evident. Where possible, alternatives of structurehave been shown in order to facilitate skilled persons in the design ofunits accordin to my invention. It will beappreciated however, that itmay be necessary to provide-devices of slightly varying dimensionalcharacteristics or provide slight variations from the structure shown asthe design of differentials changes throughout the years. It willhowever, be apparent that my invention specifically concerns theprovision of means whereby a substantially conventional (iiiferentialgear mechanism may be converted by an ordinary skilled mechanic to alocking type of that the present disclosure should not be construed inany limiting sense other than that in:- dicated by the scope of thefollowing claims.

What I claim as my invention is:

1. A differential locking device designed for application toconventional differential gear mechanisms comprising a differentialpinion shaft and studs extending from the ends thereof, at least i onelocking block slidably mounted on said dif- Ierential pinion shaftbetweenthe difierential.

pinions, means on said locking block designed for engagement with theteeth of one of the differential gears, a sleeve housing having axialslots Q,

for reception of said stud ends of said differential pinion shaft anddesigned for axial movement,

at right angles to the axial movement of said block, said sleeve housingbeing operatively connected to said locking block and designed to causeaxial movement of the same along said pinion 1 Shaft upon actuation ofsaid sleeve "housing axially and at right angles to said difie'rentialpinion shaft, and means for actuating said sleeve houssaid differentialcase and extending outwardly thereof, at least one locking block havingan axial on said differential pinion shaft, means extending bore wherebythe same may be slidably mounted from said locking block designed forengagement with the teeth of one of said differential gears, a 2

sleeve housing having axial slots designed for re: ception of theextending ends of said difierential i pinion shaft and movable at rightangles to the axial movement of said locking block, said sleeve housingbeing operatively connected to said 1ocking block to provide axialmovement of the same along said pinion shaft, and means for actuatingsaid sleeve housing.

3. A difierential locking device as claimed in; claim 2 in which theoperative connection be? tween said sleeve housing and said locking bloocomprises angularly disposed travel slots in said housing and meansextending from said block for: engagement with said slots, wherebyactuation of said sleeve housing in its axial direction movessaidlocking block along said differential pinion shaft.

4. A difierential lockingdevice as claimed in claim 2, in which theengaging means on said-f locking block comprises a pair of opposed dogs?designed to engage between the teeth of an adjacent differential gear.

5. A differential locking device as claimed in! claim 2 in which theengaging means of the locl-' ing block comprises a pair of opposed slotsadapted to receive the teeth of an adjacent differential gear.

JOSEPH A. MISENER.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file ofthis patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS,

Number Name Date 1,110,437 Golden Sept. 15, 1914 1,325,938 Franks Dec.23, 1919 1,338,720 Darr May 4, 1926 1,439,239 Hintze Dec. 19, 19221,484,466 Boydelatour Feb. 19. 1924 1,746,870 Ross et al Feb. 11, 19302,132,692 Lawrence Oct. 11, 1938

